


If we go down, then we go down together

by heavensweetheart



Series: Feeling inspired [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Compliant, Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Feelings, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Hugs, Let's leave it all in BIG Angst, POV First Person, Post-The Last Agni Kai (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28585890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavensweetheart/pseuds/heavensweetheart
Summary: Katara and Zuko have defeated Azula, but it is not a happy ending. They comfort each other amidst the chaos.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Feeling inspired [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094594
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	If we go down, then we go down together

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this fanart https://peartarts.tumblr.com/post/636162776421777408/maybe-mayb-a-post-agni-kai-hug-maybe

**Katara**

To see Azula chained and whimpering is… wrenching.

I never imagined how it would feel like when I saw her defeated, I never thought so much ahead, but I always supposed I would feel the same merciless satisfaction that always made her smile when she attacked and wounded us.

That spoke by itself, she didn’t deserve any mercy or compassion.

Maybe compassion is not something other people deserve, maybe it is something you give them because you want to because that is who you are and who they are not. Thinking of it that way… it makes sense that I don’t feel like Azula would if… things had turned out different.

Looking at her, twisting on the floor uncontrolled and unhinged, with her normally perfect hair chopped unevenly and wet by sweat and tears, and her makeup wearing down in messy stains of lipstick and black rivers down her face, she looks _exactly_ like the girl who just moments ago used me as bait in order to kill her own brother. Without a second thought, without waiting a heartbeat. That girl wasn’t deserving of much pity.

But now she is crying tears of pain.

I wonder… has she always been this much damaged? This weak? Could I have done something to fix her in some way?

It never looked like that. But then again, it never looked like that with Zuko either.

I take my eyes away from Azula, shut my ears to her cries, and look at him.

I’m still holding on to him to keep him steady, even if his back is surprisingly straight considering his injury. His hair is wet with sweat as well, sticking to his forehead, and there are spots of ash and dirt all over his face and arms. His clothes are burned and teared.

But he doesn’t look broken. Not inside, not in the ways that matter.

Perhaps he feels like he is while we look at his sister bound and shattered, but I don’t see it. I don’t see the _him_ that was suffering, I don’t see the _him_ that was still healing; I see the _him_ that is complete again. Scarred, but with brand new, regenerated skin and soul.

I see a normal boy who just did incredible things for me and the people he cares about. People whom he almost lost.

And I almost lost him.

He tenses a little when I turn and throw my arms around his neck. (I guess I interrupted his focus on Azula, but as of now, I don’t want him to think about what we did lose.) (Nor do I want to think about it myself.)

We haven’t really won yet, the world is still burning and crumbling down around us, but we are here now. We are together. We are alive.

I didn’t lose somebody else that I loved.

My embrace tightens enough for me to feel his enduring heartbeat. Not enough for me to crush his wound. _I’m not that desperate_ , I think with tears stinging my eyes.

His arms come around my waist and push me closer to him.

I hide my face against his neck as the tears spill.

_It’ll be alright_ , I say inside my head to not hear my voice break aloud.

_We are together._

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!! And if you'd like to know ways to help me keep writing, please, please, **PLEASE** see the pinned post on my Tumblr page: https://heavensweetheart.tumblr.com


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